Forget Me Not
by Algorithmic Paradox of Love
Summary: Hanejima Shizuru is an actress with no memories of her past. Upon her arrival at Ikebukuro, Japan for her movie shoot with her brother, will she remember her forgotten past with her the aid of a certain raven-haired informant? Izayaxfem!Shizuo
1. Introduction, Disclaimer

**DISCLAIMER: **

_**Durarara!**_ (デュラララ! _Dyurarara!_), often romanized as **DRRR!** in Japan, is a Japanese light novel series written by Ryohgo Narita, with illustrations by Suzuhito Yasuda, that has also been adapted in to a Japanese anime series. As of February 2012, ten volumes have been published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. A manga adaptation by Akiyo Satorigi started serialization in the shōnen manga magazine _Monthly GFantasy_ on April 18, 2009. An anime adaptation began airing in Japan in January 2010. _Durarara!_ tells the story of a dullahan working as an underworld courier in Ikebukuro, an internet-based anonymous gang called The Dollars, and the chaos that unfolds around the most dangerous people in Ikebukuro. A game based on the series for the PlayStation Portable was released on September 22, 2010.

_(INFORMATION IS FROM WIKIPEDIA)_

We can all conclude from the information that I, the author of this fanfiction, is not the actual author of the wondrous manga slash anime that is DRRR!, I can only hope and wish it was mine. But no, it is not: sadly. May this disclaimer serve as my disclaimer from the start to the end of my story.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

I finally decided to write this idea that has been bugging my head ever since I read the Light Novels of Durarara! Hence my fanfiction may contain some spoilers, little spoilers, for those who haven't read it. As what my summary says, this fanfiction has Izayaxfem!Shizuo as its main pairing. Why, you ask? Because I fell in love with the concept of a fem!Shizuo right since I first laid eyes on Izaya and Shizuo fighting. When I saw fan pictures of fem!Shizuo, or Shizuka, I concluded and decided that a fanfiction with fem!Shizuo and male!Izaya _must _be done.

**So here we all are with my fanfiction with Heiwajima Shizuka and Orihara Izaya.**

This is my first fanfiction so please do be gentle in the comments. Please help this author improve herself with constructive criticism, and as my profile says, I am only 15 years old, so this story will not contain any -cough- smut -cough- as the rating clearly states.

So with everything clear, let us all begin.


	2. Forget Me Not 01

_The distant honks of cars and the rain that pounded on her skin harshly because of her light choice of clothing made her run faster and faster away from all the noise. Away from everything. Away from __**him.**__ She was crying, salty tears mixed with unforgiving rain drops from the night sky. Her breath was ragged due to running at full speed and the sobs that sent tremors through her entire frame. Her tear-blurred vision failed to perceive the hindrance in front of her which caused her to trip on whatever it was and fall to the ground unceremoniously.  
><em>

_She groggily supported herself up with her scraped hands. The pain on her legs and now twisted ankle processed by her brain disabled her from any form of movement whatever she might try. She decided to give up all effort she planned to exert on getting to her feet. It was futile. The physical pain she was undergoing prevented her body from functioning the way she wished it to, to add insult to injury, her heart and mind were in chaos. No coherent thought aside from immense hurt went through her brain and her heart felt as if it was torn away from her chest, ripped to pieces and thrown to hungry wolves to ravish.  
><em>

_Her hands lost their strength which caused her to slump further into the ground. It hurt. Damn it all – it hurt. It hurt more than anything she had experienced in her entire life and that was saying something. She had been through a lot since her childhood – she'd been through a lot of excruciating experiences that she had grown accustomed to agony. Her body had been wrecked and broken so many times that she had become numb to any physical aggravation which made her strong and she had a high tolerance to pain, and no matter how many injuries she accumulated, they healed with the passing of time.  
><em>

_How she wished that her injuries were purely physical and could be cured by medication, but sadly, they weren't and they couldn't be remedied. Her heart had been broken for the first time by the one man she had let her heart open up to. By the man she worked so hard to get the attention of. By the man she gave her everything to. And damn it all if she denied that it was those very facts that destroyed her from inside and out.  
><em>

_Memories of the first time they met, of their times together and all the other precious reminiscences they have imparted on each other filled her head. More tears fell from her honey-colored eyes as she cried freely into her arm which served as a cushion to her face from the dirty cement beneath her. Her body shook from every heart-wrenching sob that escaped her bruised lips; she trembled from crying and from the coldness of the rain.  
><em>

_A loud sound nearing her snapped her out of her self-pity. The lights that shone on her made her eyes widen as she realized the inevitable that was about to occur. Yet she did not move. She could have but she did not. There was no point anymore. She was not needed. The one person who gave her a reason to live on had discarded her and regarded her as useless -so why should she struggle to survive?  
><em>

_She closed her eyes and waited for the inexorable collision._

_Tires screeched and horrified screams…  
><em>

_Blood splattered and the red, sticky fluid turned into a lighter color and became more viscous as it fused with the clear liquid from above that resonated with the tragedy it witnessed as it fell from the sky.  
><em>

_And then she could no longer distinguish light from darkness.  
><em>

* * *

><p>"Shizu-nee." A voice called out to her from her sleep, trying to wake her from her deep slumber but to no avail. The voice tried once more. "Shizu-nee!" this time's attempt to wake her was a bit louder and was accompanied by a light shaking of her shoulders. A sigh escaped from the latter's lips when she still refused to wake up. "Shizuru-nee, wake up! We're going to go to Japan today."<p>

The sudden reminder for her day's schedule jolted her from her fetal position on her queen-sized bed with a soft exclamation of "I'm awake!"

Honey eyes met with dark, emotionless ones. Her brother sensed her discomfiture. Before he could ask, she answered for him. "I… dreamt of it again." The comfort between them suddenly turned to tension as her brother usually calm face turned harsh and serious, his eyes filled with unreadable emotion. "Did you remember… what caused it?" he asked her, his voice took a sharp turn.

She shook her head. She dreamt of someone running, and crying and experiencing immense pain so clearly. "It's as if that person was me."

Yuuhei sighed and hugged her closely as he stood. "No worries. You don't need to think of such things. It was just a dream."

She nodded, slightly curious about her brother's weird behavior, but nonetheless, she hugged back, she enjoyed any form of endearment Yuuhei displayed, they were, after all, very rare.

"Good... And..." her brother's voice was relieved and his face was back from scary to void of emotion. "I was about to drink all the milk." His statement woke her sleepy neurons up. "Don't you dare touch my milk, Yuuhei." She retorted, her grip tightened around her brother, the only reply from him was a chuckle and a dismissive wave of the hand as he released himself from her grasp. "If you don't get up right now, I cannot assure you that I won't drink your share as well." He informed her before he ran for his life.

Shizuru stood up, quickly wrapped her bathrobe around her and ran after her brother, in an attempt to save her precious morning dairy. Her dream was momentarily forgotten.

_**Yes, it was another regular morning in the Hanejima household.  
><strong>_

* * *

><p>In a shady part of Shinjuku, Japan sat an infamous information broker, a smirk on his face which contradicted the tired look on his eyes. His cellphone was closely held up to his ear by his left hand. "So, Shinra, why are you calling me? In need of some information?"<p>

"_No, I just wanted to invite you over."  
><em>

"Why?"

"_It's just that… Me and Celty haven't seen you much since - "  
><em>

Cue to cut off his best friend of 12 years from further opening the sore topic for the both of them. "Alright, alright, I'll come just… just don't open that topic."

"_You still haven't forgotten about her, have you?"  
><em>

His words, they cut deep, but he was a master of hiding his emotions so with ease, he managed to reply to his friend's inquiry without letting his twisted amusement slip from his voice. "You can't forget easily about a monster, can you Shinra?" At his reply, his friend sighed; he could imagine Shinra shaking his head in disagreement.

"_Just make sure you come, it is your birthday. We want to celebrate it - if you don't I'm going to make Celty drag your sorry ass over here."  
><em>

There was no need for Shinra to remind him. He remembered vividly what day today was. It was his birthday, and the most memorable day of his life – the day she disappeared. He snapped his thoughts back to his friend's warning that had a joking tone to it which caused him to chuckle a bit. "Alright, I'll drop by later. Make sure to have a cake prepared."

"_Will do, strawberry shortcake, right?"  
><em>

"Yeah." Was his short answer before he closed his phone and stood up. He grabbed his ever-present coat, put it on and walked towards the door. Before he left his empty apartment, save his assistant, he flashed a look at the frame on his table. An uncharacteristic frown made its way to his face. His assistant didn't fail to notice this.

"You do know that it's your fault you're suffering right now right, you do realize you dug your own grave that night, right?" Namie asked apathetically. A harsh chuckle of acknowledgement of her snarky remark was the only response Izaya gave his ever-sarcastic assistant.

Without saying a word to the long haired woman, he headed off to Ikebukuro.

_**Yes, it was another regular morning to Orihara Izaya ever since Heiwajima Shizuka left.**_

* * *

><p>AN

**So first chapter finished, I hope that this chapter has interested you all, dear readers, if not, please do stay tuned, I'll try my best doing what I can for this to live up to your expectations, if you had any. Hehe. Please comment, and review. They are one of the sources of my inspirations to keep writing this story. I appreciate anything you can say about this story. Thank you all for reading, and please stay tuned for the next chapter of "Forget Me Not" by Algorithmic Paradox of Love**


	3. Forget Me Not 02

"Happy Birthday!" Shinra and Celty (Celty communicated with her PDA, like always, and Izaya couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of why she couldn't speak – that's right, she had no head, and unbeknownst to them all, yours truly had it), together with Simon and Kadota said at the same time as he stepped into Russia Sushi. He expected some sort of surprise, hence his unresponsiveness, but he decided against destroying the happy atmosphere his friends, well, pawns, set up for him.

After all, not all people welcomed him like they do. Not everyone would be happy on his birthday, because he – what was the term – TROLLED people around him and that made him into one of the most dislikable people to be around with other than the pathetic remaining members of the Yellow Scarves. "Wow, what a surprise! I'm so happy you guys remembered!" he said, feigning surprise. If they weren't close to him, they'd have been fooled, but over the years, especially after_ her_ disappearance, he had slowly and gradually become more transparent, though they were still wary of him because of his high rate of unpredictability.

Nevertheless, they saw right through his act and rolled their eyes. Simon was the first one to speak up. "Izaya, try not to think of anything else but your birthday and having fun for now." His accent had improved through the years, Izaya noted. His smirk was replaced with a sad smile when he analyzed all their faces. They showed concern for him, and he was sure that if Celty had a face, hers would have the same, sad and forlorn expression as the others. He didn't deserve that look, heck, all of them knew that, yet still they worried for him.

If he wasn't who he was, he would have cried, but being Izaya, he was touched, only for a bit, and had no other reaction to their worry other than a slightly wry laugh. "What's with you guys? I thought we were going to party, why do you all have faces like that?" he tried uplifting the mood. Fortunately, everyone got the message that he does not need to be fawned over upon. Shinra let out a shrill fit of laughter. "Well, then now that all that drama's done – let's party!"

The sound of party poppers and merry-making filled the sushi shop, and Izaya found himself having a pretty decent time. Maybe this year, his birthday won't be as lonely as the last.

* * *

><p>"I cannot believe how fast our company's jet planes are. We were just in Los Angeles a good five hours ago, and now we're in Japan." Shizuru exclaimed, clearly amazed with the flying vehicle she was in. Yuuhei merely smiled a bit and dismissed his sister's excitement.<p>

"Hey, Yuuhei?"

"Yes, Shizu-nee?"

"Have we been to Japan before?" she inquired, pure curiosity in her tone. Yuuhei put his glass of martini on the gorgeously crafted table, provided by their personal jet given to them by their agency. His eyes avoided hers and focused his glance towards the clouds. "Maybe, but we've travelled a lot of countries, and my memories are really foggy. I don't recall."

She snorted at his remark "Geez Yuuhei, I was expecting a more proper answer, and how come you don't remember? I mean, it is our home country, is it not? If it wasn't then, how'd you explain our noticeably Japanese names?"

Her brother, seemingly surprised at her deduction, faced her; his face was serious, yet gentle. "It's because we were orphaned at a very young age nee-san, we have lived in America for as long as I can remember, after Tom-san adopted us." He then smiled; his aura a bit melancholic. Shizuru gulped and nodded before she faced the window. She felt a bit guilty for opening such a sensitive topic for both of them.

She felt guilty for forgetting her childhood with Yuuhei. It must have been a painful childhood – from what she's heard, they were orphaned at a very young age, with her only being seven, and Yuuhei five years old. If it were her, she would not want to remember such painful things. She was lucky, she thought, for she had naturally forgotten such an unwanted past, but for Yuuhei who so desperately wanted to escape what they had been through, she was being unfair and unreasonable for trying to squeeze out information from him.

She was quieted with her guilt and they landed with heedless tension between them. The hand that held her own– warm, soft and a bit bigger than hers, a hand which belonged to none other than her brother whispered a soft apology. She couldn't help but smile softly at his quiet apology. She lightly squeezed back at his hand, a silent form of acceptance, and also of repentance.

It was something between them, only between the Hanejima siblings. They could tell how each other felt, and what the other was thinking from a mere look or touch. They needed not to talk when the slightest of contact between them was more vibrant and descriptive than any word could convey. Once their jet had landed, their hands remained connected as they exited their private flying vehicle and readily came in contact with flashing lights, loud cheering and a warm welcome from the people of Japan who had been expecting their arrival.

They smiled at their fans and for the cameras as they made their way through the crowd with the help of their body guards, they never let go of each other's hands until they reached the fancy car that was assigned to take them to their accommodations. Without speaking, Shizuru rested her head on her brother's shoulders when they were seated inside of the expensive car, beside each other.

Yuuhei merely smiled, but contrary to his other, tired smiles, this one was a mysterious one – something he wouldn't dare show his sister if she was awake. He murmured a soft apology and said "Nee-san. I miss you." before he rested his head on top of his sister's. The two of them drifted to sleep, as they comforted the emptiness the other felt.

* * *

><p>It had been late in the afternoon when Izaya and company deemed their little party worthy of closing. Kadota and his gang were drunk, Shinra, who was drunk, had been taken home by the rather unimpressed Celty. Simon was, well, he was Simon so he didn't get drunk, only tipsy. As for him, he could handle his liquor pretty well, and he was not one bit dizzy. Hence he still had the ability to walk around town aimlessly without anyone's supervision.<p>

Once he felt tired, he flopped himself on top of the park bench he always sat on during his birthday. Never once had he failed to sit there and think, and reminisce. It was some sort of a place of comfort for him. Call him crazy, but the park bench he was splayed on right now had sentimental value to him. Yes, the almighty Orihara Izaya considered a mere park bench as an important existence to him. That was because besides from his favorite chair at his apartment, this bench had a calming effect on him. It was the only place he could think and allow himself to admit he still had the tiniest bit of humanity in him. It was the only place he would let himself cry.

His tear glands sensed the presence of their trusty place of mourning, not long after, they started to release tears that the informant had been hiding, had been controlling for some time now ever since he woke up. He was grateful he had Shinra and the others distract him from his unnoticeable sadness, or else he would have broken into a mess, and that would have been trouble. No one was allowed to see the infamous Orihara Izaya cry. He was not allowed to show weakness that he shouldn't even have in the first place.

He wasn't allowed to regret. From a very young age he had been trained to hide his feelings. He had been, after all, the perfect son, and any form of weakness was not allowed by his father for it would have been a disgrace, but he failed at that. Didn't he? He failed epically so, if he must say so himself. He became the way he was now for someone he cared for, and he permitted his emotions to destroy his own life for Shinra's sake, not that he was blaming Shinra for what he has become. Not at all, he doesn't regret standing up for something he believed was right – it was the only thing constant he had - his undying care for his best friend.

His best friend was why he became an informant, why his father disowned him, why he lost everything – why she disappeared, why Shizuka left. He, once again, did not blame Shinra. He blamed himself. He blamed his unhealthy obsession with consistency, love for humans and pride and strength for all the blasted things that caused him to fuck up big time.

Everything he had, everything he is, what he was and his love for the whole of humanity drove her away.

He just couldn't understand it anymore. He just couldn't. He tried to compose his thoughts, which is, by the way, a pretty hard feat to do when your brain is like one giant master computer and has a lot of information stored about pretty much everything and his emotions were in turmoil – most likely because he had sealed them for so long. He only let his emotions out during the day of his damned birth because it was the day the first sign of humanity after becoming what he was escaped him.

That first sign of humanity caused him to take out all his stress and anger out on the one person that had remained constant to him after all those years - the one who exceeded his expectations for his amusement so she could be the apple of his eyes.

He realized all of these a tad bit too late. He realized only when she smiled brokenly at him that night and ran off to God knows where. Ironic right? He was supposed to be 'God' yet he had no idea where the person of his interest was, he had no idea that if he didn't chase after her, then everything between them would have been severed. He wasn't surprised though, she had always been someone out of his control.

He cursed that fact. He cursed the bloody fact she wasn't just some pawn, why couldn't she have been like any other person? If she was, then it wouldn't have had to come to this. He wouldn't have been crying uncontrollably on a lonely park bench as the dying light of the day changed into darkness with only the miserable moon and equally dejected stars to illuminate his slightly shaking figure and to discern the tears that fell from his reddish eyes.

He failed to notice the figure right in front of him, staring at him with sympathetic honey-colored eyes.

* * *

><p>She was sure Yuuhei would get mad at her. But she just couldn't bring herself to care about the consequences from her manager and brother. They had been to fan signings and fan meetings the whole day, and if you asked her, she was bored out of her wits - not that she didn't love her fans, and her job, they were the reason she had a great life today, but being cooped up by responsibility stressed and pressured her. All she wanted was to take a short break so she excused herself from the fan signing event and left in search of the washroom, of course, this was an excuse so she could rest from all of the spot light.<p>

She left without waiting for directions, and then she ran. She didn't care where – she just ran away from the building just like that. After all, how can Ikebukuro be all that different from L.A. right?

Her wrong assumption and childish carelessness led her to her current predicament. She was lost. One minute she was being chased by people who called themselves the Yellow Scarves, and now she was at some sort of park. It was a lonely sight and almost no one was there. Afraid she'd get caught by the people chasing after her, she started to walk towards a slightly more crowded area, but before she left the park's vicinity, she heard soft sobbing.

The sound of the cries tugged at her heart strings. Sure, she had always been a kind person and she did not discriminate from friend or foe or whether she knew them or not, but for some reason, she could not explain, the mourning she heard broke her heart. She was an actress and she was emotional, but she felt as if the pain inside her chest was her pain – pain she felt because of the mystery man's sobs and not because of some superficial role she had to act out to be displayed for every one's entertainment.

She walked towards the source of the crying and found herself mesmerized by the deepest hue of raven-black hair, a pale face wet from tears illuminated by moonlight, and somewhat crimson eyes that shone with unshed tears. Her heart started to beat a bit faster at the sight.

It was then she felt a strong urge to go over the male and give him a comforting hug. She walked up to him quietly, careful not to disturb his mourning. She hesitated whether to enclose him inside her outstretched arms or to leave him be. Being the impulsive person she was, she ignored the wiser choice out of the two and proceeded to hug the stranger.

At that moment, it felt right, like she was supposed to be doing this. It was strange how he fit perfectly in her arms, and it was peculiar why the male didn't push her away. But just for that moment, they let all logic desert them and remove them from common sense and reality as the stars shone brighter and the moon radiated a soft, non-melancholic light.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

**So I posted this chapter on my birthday, unedited. I just edited it a bit, so forgive my poor spelling errors, I am sure you can still see a lot of fatal flaws in my writing, and I would so love it if you would comment on my story. Thank you for reading my story! **


	4. Forget Me Not 03

The arms that wrapped around him weren't the end of the surprise that hit him. Soon after his initial shock from the sudden physical contact, a sweet and eerily familiar voice that started to sing a song for, hypothetically, the sake of cheering him up served to shock him even more. He, however, to his own bewilderment, did not do anything that might stop the stranger from holding him or from singing.

"_In a path that leads everywhere__  
>there are lots of things, right?<em>_  
>Now you, a bragger, are making a tearful voice<em>_  
>I can hear through the phone handle<em>

_Chasing dreams,  
>you`ve gotten up to here<em>_  
>the things you came to forget<em>_  
>are inside me, baby<em>

_When you cry, it's ok because__  
>I'm besides you<em>_  
>the nights we are separated; it's ok because<em>_  
>I'll also be by your side"<em>

The lyrics unnervingly fit the situation and the voice of the singer brought nostalgic feelings to his heart that should have died ever since Shizuka disappeared. As the mysterious singer sang, the feelings of attachment and belonging made themselves present inside his usually numb heart. How a stranger was capable of forcing out such emotions from him was beyond his understanding. He was rendered speechless and immobile as the female's angelic voice ceased not to resonate with the secluded ether of desolation around the two of them.

"_The sky we saw once__  
>will it still be here?<em>_  
>I remember the dream we saw<em>

_Could it be that the non-stop rain  
>is washing the sky?<em>_  
>I know the things you<br>haven't yet surrender to, baby_

_When you cry, it's ok because__  
>I'm besides you<em>_  
>the nights we are separated; it's ok because<em>_  
>I'll also be by your side<em>

_Because I'll be by your side"_

The soft sounds that left her lips were the indication of the end to her song. Shortly after all of her vocals had come to a complete stop and her song faded into the night, and somehow seeped into Izaya's heart, the arms that embraced the informant slowly withdrew themselves from his now still, close to petrified, body.

There was obdurate muteness between them. Not one dared to speak out his or her thoughts. For the first time in his life, Orihara Izaya had no words to say.

* * *

><p>When she finished singing, everything became clear to her. Her mind that previously only focused on giving comfort to the male in front of her had recently pounded sound reasoning into her. She inwardly cursed her inability to control her impulsive actions as her muscles tensed and her arms sluggishly removed themselves from their position.<p>

There was silence between them. Of course there would be silence, how can there be not? Her face turned crimson, and she felt the heat of her inevitable blush reach the tip of her ears. Why had she done something like that? Why did she hug him? On top of that, why the heck did she sing a love song to him?

It was beyond all rationality.

How can she do those things to a man she had only seen a couple of minutes ago, let alone a man she had, most likely, never met before and didn't even now a single thing about of. She bowed lowly, her face almost down to her knees, multiple times in front of the male her incompetent self-control has made a victim of. "I-I'm s-sorry, i-it's just that you were crying and I felt I needed to do that!" She immediately put a hand over her mouth after her incoherent words left them.

What the hell was wrong with her?

She had absolutely no idea why she was acting like this. She had never felt or acted this way before. Her eyes turned from the stranger to her surroundings, her vision seemingly dodged the cause of her embarrassment.

Why, why was this happening to her?

* * *

><p>Her unreasonable answer piqued and interested him at the same time. How could a woman just hug a man all of a sudden? He shook his head indignantly and looked up to finally get a good look at the oddity that was the girl in front of him.<p>

What he saw, if he had anything to describe his reaction, dumbfounded him to catastrophic proportions. Honey-colored eyes, long, wavy blond hair, the same physique and flushed look.

_It can't be._

**But it was.**

"S-Shizu-chan?" his voice came out as a raspy undertone. But it was audible to both of them so he couldn't give a damn to how loud he should have said it – hell; he was surprised he had the sense to murmur out her name because of his immeasurable shock. After all, she was here. Right in front of him, the real, live, breathing Heiwajima Shizuka.

She was **_back_.**

**_She _**was back

She **_was _**back.

**_She was finally back!_**

The thought of her returning circled in his mind and gave emphasis to different points of one statement as his gaze remained glued to the fidgeting and blatantly embarrassed female. Albeit she was not looking anywhere else besides his irises, her eyes were filled with confusion. The reason for such an emotion – he couldn't bring himself to give any heed to. His body thinking likewise, stood up and hugged the astonished woman.

* * *

><p>He was hugging him. She was being hugged by someone she didn't know. Her thoughts frenzied inside her already confused head as doubts and worries swarmed inside it. Yet she couldn't find it in her power to push the male away. It was weird. Normally, her reaction would be pushing away the stranger and running for dear life, but now, to her complete and utter disbelief, she found herself returning the tight embrace of the stranger.<p>

It was as if her body was reacting before her mind could even decide on what she should do. And, being as impulsive as she was, it was always instinct over rational thinking.

She could not feel danger or any ill intent from this man who apparently knew her. He did call her by her nickname did he not? Was he her fan who was overjoyed with seeing his idol? No. It didn't feel that way. His familiarity with her felt more… _deeper _than that of a fan. She couldn't explain it, but she felt such a great yet unidentifiable emotion for this man.

Even though it's irrational to be having such feelings over someone you just met, it would seem as if her body disagreed with her.

When her brain finally managed to take over her arbitrary body, she gently separated herself from the giant bear hug the stranger gave her which earned her a look of question from the latter. "Shizu-chan?"

His voice sounded hurt and it took everything she had to not just hug the man again to prevent him from letting out such a forlorn voice. She took a few steps backward from him and stared straight into those mesmerizing crimson eyes, and with the last of her remaining strength, she managed to conjure the inquiry that had been in her mind the minute he hugged her.

"_Who are you?"_

* * *

><p>His eyes widened at her words. <em>Who was he? Who was he? <em>His ears weren't deceiving him right? She said those words right? She questioned him who he was. She questioned the man she had loved so much before who he was. She questioned the man who had hurt her so much – the man who practically engraved his existence into her soul with pain who he was. Then realization hit him.

He couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh as he glared at the still confused-looking female in front of him. "A-ahahaha! Shizu-chan, you're the best! Really the best! First you disappear for what, six years? And then return here to Ikebukuro and play you have amnesia! You must really have planned on getting back at me for what I did!" he choked out, he barely manage to say what he wanted as he struggled to wheeze them out in between maniacal laughter.

At what he said, her bewilderment reached its peak. "W-what are you saying? I - I don't understand…"

The tone of her voice made Izaya stop laughing. For the first time in the entirety of his awareness of her protozoic actuality, there was fear in her voice. She was _genuinely _afraid of him.

Why was she afraid of him? Why was she – the fortissimo of Ikebukuro – afraid of him, Orihara Izaya, the bane of her existence?

Where was the usual hate? Where was the screaming and the wailing and the flying vending machines?

"Shizu-chan, drop the act, I can see right through you!" he smugly retorted back at her earlier probe. She tilted her head, her brows knit together in slight frustration. "I-I'm sorry, but you may have the wrong person."

Wow, she really was keeping this up wasn't she? He smirked. He should play along shouldn't he? "Ah, then pray do tell who this Shizu-chan is?" His feigned resignation of forcing accusations on her made the latter smile a bit.

"My name is Hanejima Shizuru, pleasure to meet you."

* * *

><p>She introduced herself to the male. She was somehow relieved that he figured out along the way she wasn't the Shizu-chan he referred to with such disdain. However, there was also a bit of disappointment in her that she wasn't the Shizu-chan the raven-haired man was looking for. He obviously cared a lot about her.<p>

Wait, hold that thought. What in blazes was she thinking? She couldn't possibly think of such things? Why would she feel disappointed of mistaken identity?

Her name seemed to have shaken the other a bit. "Hanejima… Shizuru?"

Before she could reply, gruff voices were heard not too far behind them. "Hey, there's the chick with the nice rack!"

"Woohoo, where?"

"Haha, we're going to have us some great time!"

"Who's the dude with her?"

"Her boyfriend?"

"Hah! Poor kiddo, maybe he'll help us strip his girlfriend!"

Their own perverse comments made them laugh. It made the recipient of their negativity wince visibly as she slightly shivered and unconsciously hid herself behind her new acquaintance. It really was a bad idea to come out into the city without body guards.

* * *

><p>Izaya grimaced. He wasn't sure what was disgusting him to no end: the fact that the Yellow Scarves losers were obviously trying to force themselves on Shizuka and brought him down to their pathetic level or the fact that Shizuka was not angered by the aforementioned fact but scared to the point she hid behind him. The usual ex-bartender would have gone berserk and kicked their asses in one swoop. Ah, he remembered, which caused him to chagrin, she was <em>pretending <em>she didn't remember she was Shizuka – of course, _Shizuru _wouldn't have reacted so violently.

He, for the umpth time of the day, shook his head, with a smirk on his face, he pulled out his switch knife. In an instant, he wiped them out. Not that he expected anything else. Such weaklings don't even have the chance to scratch him. The only person who would be able to land a hit on him was Shizuka.

He turned around to see if she was properly watching him, but to his amusement, she had disappeared.

Nevertheless, the smirk on his face turned into a soft smile, a soft smile that would have freaked you out by just having a glimpse of it – it was a soft smile yet it harbored obvious mischief and happiness combined you couldn't discern which is which.

"This is the best birthday ever."

That being said, he disappeared into the darkness with his usual hop-skip way of walking, he hummed to himself a merry tune with an insane smile intact on his handsome features as his brain started to formulate thousands of plans on how he could beat the complicated game _his _Shizu-chan has challenged him with.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

So this chapter is a bit longer than my past two chapters, and I'm dedicating this to **_That-Crazy-Redhead-Chick and Uroboros187_** for their reviews on the last chapter. I've began to feel a bit hopeless no one was interested, and then BAM, they reviewed. So, with revved up spirits, I wrote this extra-long chapter.

Plus, Shizu-chan sang!

Hehe, the title of the song is 'Soba Ni Iru Kara' by Amadori, the 11th ending of Naruto.

Thanks once more to my reviewers, and I hope all those who read this would review Forget Me Not.


	5. Forget Me Not 04

**A/N**

So before we begin, I'm going to clear up some things you might encounter in the chapter.

_Italicized texts are flashbacks_

_[Texts like this is for Celty's speech/ dialogues]_

[Texts like this are for chatting]

**Bold texts are part of the movie which Shizuru and Yuuhei are shooting.**

* * *

><p>Shizuru ran as fast as her shapely legs could carry her – which was, very fast since she, according to Yuuhei, used to be her old high school team's track and field ace. Her mind spun and she began to feel dizzy. She had no idea whom she was running from – the thugs who wanted to do unspeakable things to her or the stranger whom she had just met. Her heart beat faster and she could feel the adrenaline rush through her veins as she pushed herself to run faster towards where her brother was – where she could think clearly and forget everything peculiar that had just happened.<p>

"Shizu-nee!" the concerned voice of her brother that called from behind her forced her to stop. With too much force concentrated on her lower part, she failed to balance herself hence she fell on the dirty cement floor of Ikebukuro. "O-Ouch…" she mumbled softly when a stinging pain made itself known on her now very badly scraped and bleeding knees. Yuuhei saw the damage his sister had sustained and was compelled to quicken his pace towards his sibling. "Shizu-nee! Are you alright?" he practically screamed, ignoring the weird looks people gave them.

He could care less about public image when his sister was so close to crying!

After what seemed only a millisecond, Yuuhei was found kneeling beside a delicately sobbing Shizuru. "Y-Yeah, it just hurt a bit…" she smiled to reassure her brother, but Yuuhei was not to be fooled, he knew better than that. A normal wound would not be able to make his sister cry like she was doing right now. "You're lying, nee-sama." He whispered, his voice scared Shizuru a bit. She could tell he was mad, and he had every right to be. She left the fan-signing without permission, and undoubtedly made her brother anxious because of her sudden disappearing act.

Instead of the scolding she expected to come in waves, she felt two lean arms lift her, princess style. She glanced up at her brother whose face was now unreadable. "Y-Yuuhei?" she called out to him when she finally found her voice amidst her fear of her brother's wrath. Aforementioned man did not answer her; he merely walked towards what she recognized as their car.

Shizuru bit her under lip. She was in some deep shit.

Their ride back to the hotel was silent; Yuuhei had been seating beside her the whole time, looking out of the window. His face was emotionless as usual but the irritation in his demeanor discerned Shizuru from saying anything – she didn't even move. She didn't want to anger her brother further. For what felt like years, all she could hear was the sound of her own heart, the gentle rolling of tires and the busy city outside of the car.

When they reached the hotel, Yuuhei had proceeded to carry her once more, and instructed their driver to retire for the night, which the tired man obeyed whole-heartedly. After he gave specific instructions on what their schedule would be for tomorrow, Yuuhei entered the establishment, his sister still intact in his arms, even inside the elevator, he did not put her down; he didn't want her to strain her knees as she already did. Seriously, they were bleeding badly and he didn't like it. He hated – loathed the sight of blood on any part of his sister's body. Even though they were just small cuts and only a minimum amount of blood spilled, it still sent him on edge.

It scared him. It brought back memories of six years ago he did not want to remember.

* * *

><p>"<em>Heiwajima Kasuka?"<em>

"_Yes, this is Heiwajima Kasuka." _

"_Your sister, Heiwajima Shizuka is currently confined in Raira Hospital."_

"_What?" the message of whoever was calling him made his eyes widened slightly. It has been a while since his sister has been taken to a hospital. Was it because of broken bones? Impossible. He was sure he shipped gallons of milk to her apartment._

"_Your sister -" whoever this was tried to repeat himself, but Kasuka cut him off. "I know. _Why _is she in the hospital?" he said in an unusually impatient manner. "She was hit by a car." The simple statement made him want to laugh out, but due to his indifference, his amusement was reduced to a small smile which was quickly changed into a look of complete horror once he heard the continuation. _

"_She is currently suffering both major internal and external bleeding, what's worse is that her brain has gone into a state of comatose. We would like to request a family member's presence -"_

_He didn't need to hear anything else to have him yelling at his driver and barking at him to hurry over to Raira Hospital or else he was fired. _

_Once his foot touched the ground, he raced towards the registrar and inquired about Heiwajima Shizuka, the nurse inside the registrar looked at him sadly before she led the panicking Kasuka towards the ICU. Kasuka had to deal with an antagonizing duration of worry for a minute which amounted to ten years of his life span before the doctor decided to show himself. Not thinking rationally, he almost assaulted the poor man with questions like "Is she okay?" or "What happened?"_

_It all seemed distant to him and he couldn't comprehend the words he had just said, but he persevered to understand what the doctor was saying. "Please calm down, Mr. Heiwajima."_

_Calm down._

_This man was telling him to calm down when his only sister, his ONLY LIVING FAMILY in the world was dying. And he was fucking telling him to calm down. Needless to say, the normally emotionless Kasuka almost punched this unreasonable person who wanted him to calm the fuck down. The latter sensed his attack and managed to get away from the enraged actor. "S-She's s-stable…"_

_At that, all his rage dissipated. He let out the breath he did not realize he was holding ever since his fit. "B-But…" at the word of contradiction, the star's head shot up. "But what?" his voice questioningly demanded an answer. The doctor gulped and answered him. "H-Heiwajima Shizuka is in a coma. Also, her brain has been heavily damaged by the collision, and has affected a large part of her brain and -"_

"_Cut the fucking crap and just get to the point God damn it!" Kasuka shouted angrily. He could care less about those minor details; he wanted to know what was wrong with Shizuka._

"_Even if she wakes up, she might not have memories."_

_This sent his world crashing down. His voice decided to become uncooperative all of a sudden as he only managed out to it came out in a husky whisper. "She… she'll have… amnesia?" _

_A nod. _

"_I-Is it p-permanent?"_

"_Judging from the damage, most likely."_

_For the first time he could remember, Kasuka Heiwajima cried._

* * *

><p>"Yuuhei?" a weak voice brought him back to reality. "Yuuhei? A-Are you alright?" Shizuru's voice was shaking; he could tell she was afraid that he was mad at her. She shouldn't be though. He would never get mad at her. "Yeah."<p>

"I'm sorry for sneaking out like that…"

He smiled a bit at her sincere apology and continued on tending to her scraped knees. "It's fine. I was just really worried. I… don't want anything to happen to Shizu-nee." He could not stop his voice from taking a turn for the worse. His tone oozed out fear, worry and regret and all other emotion he felt with the mere thought of something bad happening to her.

"Yeah… I really am sorry. I-It won't happen again." Shizuru blurted out. She just couldn't tell her over-protective brother about her run-in with hooligans and the peculiar encounter with the mesmerizing raven-haired man.

* * *

><p>Izaya hummed a dark melody as he chatted away in the Dollars chat box.<p>

[Kanra: I found my missing friend!~]

[admin: Good for you Kanra-san.]

[Kanra: I'm really happy but she's playing a very mean game with me! (sad)]

[admin: Oh, but as you've said in the previous chats, you did something mean to her before she disappeared. Maybe she's getting revenge? Not that I'm implying she might still be mad though.]

[Kanra: I thought of the exact same thing! I guess. All I can actually do now is play along, but not without my own kinks. Hahahaha!~]

[admin: It scary when Kanra-san says such things. I get the feeling something big is going to happen. Well, I'll be signing off now. Bye Kanra-san.]

[Kanra: Bye bye admin!~]

When the only person online other than himself logged out, he spun his favorite chair and laughed manically. It all made sense. Of course Shizu-chan was only human, and she'd plot something as humanely predictable as revenge. Why hadn't he considered that possibility? "Hah, I considered her as a special human – no, a monster, I never even expected something like this." He answered himself.

So after his harsh words, she left and disappeared for six years and upon her return, she still couldn't forgive him and thus the reason for her feigning amnesia upon meeting him. That has got to be it! Hah, secret's out and Izaya was excited to play along with the little plot his Shizu-chan has splayed out for him. He has got to admit, this was one way of getting revenge. He never expected something of such proportions from someone as protozoic as Shizu-chan of doing such a feat or even being able to concoct such a plan.

She really was interesting, and the best toy!

He kept telling himself that fact as he finally got an explanation for his actions the past six years – he had, admittedly been guilty, but that was because he thought he broke his favorite toy. But she hasn't completely broken down, and here she was, picking up a new type of fight with him. How joyous!

He just could not believe how strong she was!

He could not believe how she outwitted him, the god of all humans and got him to feel such petty emotions such as guilt, love and attachment.

But all of that was over now. He was going to play along her game and beat her with her own devices. And what other way would work than making her fall in love with him all over again?

He would make her fall for him again and destroy her once and for all for making him act so pathetically and feel insignificantly for six whole years.

He understood now. All of that frustration was certainly some sort of warning of his naturally god-like senses from her childish revenge.

"The games are on Shizu-chan."

From the far corner of the room where she was seated, Namie merely sighed and shook her head. "The idiot has mistaken relief for anger." She gave the still laughing and spinning Izaya an apathetic gaze. "You're going to regret what you're about to do… I can just feel it." She said mostly to herself, seeing as her boss was still in his own little world.

* * *

><p>"What?"<p>

"We're going to have our shooting in Shinjuku! Well, more specifically in Nishi-Shinjuku. You see, our script is an action movie. Shizu-chan and Yuu-kun are siblings who are fighting for what they believe is 'justice', of course this 'justice' they speak of are only diabolical schemes to get the two to fight because they are the last humans alive on Earth. Unbeknownst to them, the androids are trying to get them to kill each other. They are unaware of their humanity for they have been preserved for a hundred years, and androids, being the evil machines they were, decided to do something even worse than a quick death – they'd let the two destiny tied siblings kill one another – hence the reason we need to go to Shinjuku! It has the perfect setting, the other cast and the set are there!" Rokujo Chikage, their manager said in one breathing, his stoic face contorted into that of an expression of pure excitement.

Yuuhei heaved out a semi-annoyed, semi-impressed sigh, while Shizuru continued on with her meal. Once he calmed down, Chikage focused his attention on the actress which caused her to choke on her pancake. "W-What?"

Chikage smirked. "You look cute today as well Shizu-chan!~"

The nickname made her spit out the contents of her mouth on the unsuspecting man's face. Yuuhei's eyes widened in surprise, Chikage had an unreadable expression. Shizuru blushed from embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry Rocchi-san!" she choked out as she grabbed a napkin and wiped her manager's dirtied face. "Ahahaha! No worries Shizu-chan!" Once more, Shizuru was taken aback by the use of the nickname which led to her colliding harshly with the table abruptly making the glass of water near Chikage to fall on him, wetting his suit.

There was silence between them before Chikage laughed out loudly. Shizuru looked away, her face as red as a tomato while Yuuhei stared at his sister. "Nee-san, did something happen?"

"I just find the nickname weird. Even though it's the usual name Rocchi-san addresses me with, after last night -" her hand found its way to her face to cover her mouth. _Oh shit._ The innocent stare Yuuhei had on only recently was replaced with a probing look that held so much authority – his question was understood by Shizuka even though it was yet to be asked.

She didn't want to lie to her brother. It was her fault for slipping, so she might as well tell the both of them.

"W-Well… about last night…" she trailed off, both men nodded for her to continue. She breathed in and gulped before she continued. "I was being chased by thugs, then I found myself in a park where I saw someone crying. Without thinking, I… kind of… hugged him and sang for him. For some reason, that man seemed to know me and called me 'Shizu-chan'. Before he could tell me who he was, the thugs showed up again. I don't know what happened next, I just ran away. Then Yuuhei found me… and well you know the rest."

"Question nee-san, what did this man look like?"

"He had short black hair and piercing crimson eyes." She muttered out, the blush on her face worsened at the recollection of the charming features of the man. She closed her eyes shut before she stood up. "I'm going to the car now." Was all she said before she left a very serious Yuuhei and equally serious Chikage.

"Yuu- I mean Kasuka, I think Shizuka-chan met Orihara Izaya."

* * *

><p>"Say what?" [<em>What?<em>]

Shinra and Celty reacted at the same time. Izaya marveled how the headless woman typed so fast. He nodded in response to their question.

[_Where did you see her? What happened?_] Celty asked him in a rather anxious manner which made Izaya smile a bit. She was really worried about Shizuka. She was, after all, her best friend. He can attest to that fact. Celty had hunted him down the whole city of both Ikebukuro and Shinjuku after Shizuka disappeared, when she found him, he was sure she would bring an end to his life, luckily for him, Shinra was with her and managed to calm her before she cut his head with her black scythe.

"Well, last night, when I was at the park she just appeared. Apparently she has amnesia. She doesn't remember me at all." He feigned hurt. "It seems that her name right now isn't Heiwajima Shizuka but Hanejima Shizuru!" he laughed out loud. Celty and Shinra sent glances at each other.

[_Wait, you said Hanejima Shizuru, right?_]

"Yep."

[_Isn't Hanejima Shizuru the actress who has come with her brother to shoot a movie?_]

"Oh?" This caught his interest. So his Shizu-chan became an actress. Not like it wasn't in her genes, Kasuka, her brother, was an actor. "Wait you said she was with her brother? So Kasuka-kun is with her?"

[_Yeah. Her brother's name is Hanejima Yuuhei._]

"Isn't that Kasuka-kun's alias?" Shinra's brows knit together. Izaya nodded. "So Kasuka-kun is in the revenge as well?" Izaya mused, much to Shinra's chagrin. "Won't be surprising considering how you hurt his sister." Izaya coughed awkwardly over his best friend's statement.

[_I don't think so. Hanejima Shizuru and Yuuhei were said to have been born in Japan but later on a rich business tycoon adopted them and took them to America it would seem, they've been training as artists ever since._]

Izaya and Shinra looked at Celty with raised brows. "How'd you know all this?" they asked her at the same time.

If she had a head, Celty would be blushing.

[_H-Hey! It's not like I work all the time, I watch television at times, and I see Hanejima Shizuru on a lot of channels. She's pretty famous here. She modeled on a lot of Vogue magazines, but as for her movies, it is said that their company doesn't let Japan get a hold of them – under Yuuhei's request, he doesn't let his and her movies get aired in this country, but they say he's already an acting legend in America and other countries_. _It would seem that their debut six years ago in their first Hollywood movie was a blockbuster. However, Yuuhei, it would seem, vehemently rejected merchandises relating to their debut movie to be shipped in Japan. That's why not many Japanese people know of them. B-But I do… have a copy if you want to watch it…_]

Her intense knowledge on the topic surprised both the informant and Shinra. Izaya was surprised by the fact that he knew of no such thing while Shinra was surprised that Celty was a die-hard Hollywood fan. They, however, did not voice out their shock to avoid embarrassing the Dullahan. Izaya could only wheeze out a soft "Yeah, let's watch it."

This should prove to be interesting. He's rather revved up at the knowledge he can get to see his usually stiff Shizu-chan displaying emotions on screen. Celty nodded and produced a CD from the shadows. She put it in the DVD player and the three of them sat down to watch the movie entitled "From Here on End".

* * *

><p>"<strong>This is the end of our squabbles Altair."<strong>

"**I couldn't agree more Cassiopeia!"**

**As the sun is at its peak, the two valiant warriors of the year 3000 once again face off to settle their long-fought battle. Emotions exploded, beliefs collided and untamed fury was unleashed by the destiny-bound rivals.**

**Thus, the fighting ensues. Who will win? Altair or Cassiopeia?**

"Cut! That's it for the morning shoot. Make sure to be back after three hours every one! Enjoy your lunch!"

The shrill shout of their director succeeded in making the Heiwajima siblings stop their farce war against each other. Yuuhei dropped his mask of anger and once again did his face regain its composed features. His sister mirrored his brother's actions and relaxed when they felt the heat of the moment dissipate into calmness at the implied success of their filming.

A clap from not too far caused the two to face the direction where the sound came from to reveal their widely grinning manager. "Great job you two! I was completely speechless. We don't even have clips for bloopers." He said with fraud hurt at the last part, but immediately smiled after.

Shizuru smiled back at their manager while Yuuhei simply offered him a nod. "I'm going to go change now, I don't want to ruin the outfit, I still have to use it later, after all." The elder Heiwajima chuckled. "Wa, but it fits Shizu-chan so well! It shows off your figu -" before Chikage could finish what he was about to say, the younger of the two artists had effectively silenced him by hitting the back of his head with the script in his hand, which resulted to a fit of laughter from the cast, excluding Shizuru who had now run off to the set's changing van.

Once inside, she progressed to taking off her clothes, leaving only her underwear on. She was too focused on changing; she failed to notice the presence of another individual that was right behind her. Until, that was, soft breathing made contact with the back of her neck which sent shivers down her spine. There was someone behind her, she could feel it.

Her mind panicked. This wasn't good. Their van was sound proof, she was close to naked and there was a stranger behind her.

Her brain went down the drain when arms wrapped themselves around her bare stomach. What made her lose her senses and ability to properly react was the voice that belonged to none other than the raven-haired man from the previous night.

"_Shizu-chan…"_

* * *

><p><strong>AN**

**I tried to make this chapter longer! I hope that it was long enough. So this chapter was inspired by my reviewers, as always. I would like to thank mika . siam . 71192 , AliceofDeath and Maru de Kusanagi for their kind reviews. I'm glad you enjoyed reading Forget Me Not, and I am hoping you will continue to support this fanfiction. Once more, thank you very much and until the next chapter.**


	6. Forget Me Not 05

His arms around her and his voice triggered something within her. She couldn't explain the feeling that exploded inside of her chest once she felt those long, lean arms hug her and heard the tone he used to call out her name. One minute she remained motionless and stunned, the next she felt immense strength swell up inside of her which made her turn around harshly, albeit her almost bare form and, much to her and assailant's surprise, flip him over, in a not so gentle manner, like a professional martial artist resulting to a rather loud thud.

Usually she'd apologize, but like before, her body and mind weren't cooperating with her. Instead of the apology she planned to voice out, an insult and angry remark resounded around them. "God damn it, don't fucking touch me you flea!"

Both her and the latter's eyes grew wide at her reaction.

Where the hell did _that _come from? When did she learn judo? When did she learn to swear like that? How come her body wasn't cooperating with her? How come it can speak and act on its own on just pure impulse? Her mind was spinning again. She had no idea what was going on anymore. A fit of amused chuckles cum uncontrollable laughter snapped her out of her confusion.

With indignant eyes, she stared at the source of the twisted laughter. Her face was flushed; she covered her body with the costume still in her hands. Shizuru remained silent and let the man laugh his heart out. The reason for such an outburst, she could not comprehend. Why wasn't he mad at her? She threw him and swore at him. Why was he laughing at her?

Was there something on her face? Did he find her body revolting? Wha – BLOODY HELL THAT WAS NOT THE POINT RIGHT NOW! Why was he even here? How did he even get in the van? She was pretty sure she locked the vehicle after she got inside. The already confused actress chose to stop her train of thoughts. It wouldn't help her current situation if she continued to debate with herself. First things first – she has to get things straight with this man. What other way did she have other than to ask him head on what the deal was?

"W-Why –H-how – You… here…" Wrong decision it seemed. Her embarrassment and confusion took away her ability to properly construct comprehendible sentences and questions. Her eyes never left the man, though they changed focus somewhere along the way. From just blankly gazing upon the peculiar male, her distracted honey-dyed eyes locked with burning close to red irises whose owner stopped his fit without her noticing.

One moment he was splayed on the floor, the next he was up on his feet and already only centimeters away from her. To say she was once again stunned by the intruder would be an understatement. Too shocked was she to retaliate when both of the male's hands grabbed her bony wrists and proceeded to slam her forcibly towards the wall, their eyes never left each other.

What made matters worse was she couldn't look away from his eyes no matter how she tried. She couldn't find the strength she displayed earlier. She was close to bare and she felt exposed – she felt completely naked under those eyes that appeared as if they could see through everything. Her breath hitched, much to her disdain at how powerless she felt under the man's ministrations. The latter obviously noticed her fear but chose to take it as fuel to his interest.

His voice made her knees tremble and her eyes close involuntarily.

* * *

><p>"Shizu-chan…"<p>

It would seem as if his mind abandoned him the moment he saw her. It's as if all the feelings he had bottled up spilled and caused him to act as he did. He came home from Ikebukuro expecting a day's rest from everything he's been through. After he, Shinra and Celty watched Shizuru and Yuuhei's debut movie, all strength and coherency in him dissipated into thin air. In his defense, he blamed it all on the way Shizu-chan looked so breath-taking on screen. He hated it.

He despised the fact that expressions that took him a couple of years to see were just displayed on screen for everyone to enjoy. Deep down, he felt insatiable antagonism. For whom or what, he did not know. He was so annoyed to the point he wanted to stop watching the movie, but being Izaya, from years of practice, he had great self-control. And also, as he watched the movie, a great number of the questions and mysteries in his mind were solved.

First and foremost, six years ago, not only his Shizu-chan disappeared, but also her brother, Heiwajima Kasuka. Sure he still had a few projects now and then, but he never starred in Japanese movies anymore. He never hosted shows or even appeared on them. It was as if he left Japan. It would seem that he had truly gone abroad with Shizuka and that he started to act in the States and other countries. He clearly had something against his home country as proven by his vehement rejection of his movies being sold in said country – also his disagreement with having Shizuka's movies sold in Japan.

Izaya could formulate one hypothesis from that clue. Kasuka was running away from something – and he was hiding his sister from someone. He snickered at that. He knew it was him who Kasuka didn't want his sister to meet. That would mean that Shizuka, after her heart break, went with Kasuka to the States, lived there for six year and became a famous actress alongside his brother. It made sense. The pieces fit perfectly. If not for Celty's earlier statement that the Hanejima siblings were _adopted _by a business tycoon and had lived in the States at a very young age, though he didn't trust the validity of Celty's information.

It had long lost its credibility when Izaya saw the two siblings act on screen. Hanejima Yuuhei was definitely Heiwajima Kasuka, that fact led to only one reasonable conclusion, Hanejima Shizuru was Heiwajima Shizuka. How the Dullahan failed to notice such a blatant fact, he had no idea.

The underground doctor sent him probing looks. It would seem as Shinra noticed it too, but as to not make Celty feel bad, he kept his mouth shut.

The information broker merely nodded his head at his friend and transferred his attention towards the formulation of his hypothesis. He had trust in his deduction skills, and now that he had the reassurance of Shinra's interest; all he needed now were proof and explanations. His Shizu-chan's disappearance was indeed laced with mystery and it challenged him to investigate deeper into the matter before he officially destroyed his favorite toy. After all, she was far too interesting to crush without playing along with her little game.

Also, she wasn't too shabby looking. Scratch that, she was beautiful – probably one of the most beautiful females he's ever encountered. Despite being always angry and glaring, her beauty could not be rivaled. Now, on screen, her face showed such vulnerable emotions - turned her into a goddess. Heiwajima Shizuka was indeed very beautiful. At that realization and reluctant admission of admiration he had for the girl, Izaya's heart beat a tad bit faster than usual.

Of course it was only because she wasn't used on seeing her express herself like that. There was no way he liked her the way everyone believed he did, right?

Hence the reason he followed her almost immediately when he saw her in Shinjuku, more unambiguously, in Nishi-Shinjuku, the location of his apartment.

He did not expect to see her close to naked. He did not expect his body to act on its own and hug her like that. Over all those unexpected situations, the way she reacted to his call and touch shocked him. The way she shattered his expectations exhilarated his blood and his excitement which had lain dormant for the past six years of her absence.

She was the only one who could make his adrenaline rush like this - the only one who could provide him so much entertainment. It made him laugh. It was all too funny and interesting. His Shizu-chan was really the best. He would forever engrave it in his memory. The way his Shizu-chan's monstrous strength managed to throw him off guard, the way anger flashed inside those now perplexed orbs. The rush was too much for him to control. Especially when he saw her shyness and confusion blend into one, they disabled her from reacting properly. Let's not forget that he was closing to seeing her entire body, and just like her face, her body was dusted with a subtle shade of pink from humiliation. The way she stuttered…

How cute.

Before he knew it, he was on his feet and had successfully managed to pin the distressed woman to the wall of the van.

"Shizu-chan…" he called out once more. Truth be told, he wanted to call out her name over and over and over again just to make sure she was really in front of him. He wanted to call her name so she'll be bound to him forever. His mind long lost its proper reason the moment he laid eyes on her. It was annoying she could send him towards insanity, but never does he need to mind that. She was, after all, beneath him, scared and confused – just the way he always wanted her to be. He wanted to see more emotion on her face. And the thought of seeing more expressions on her lovely face resulted to him grinning from ear to ear.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Shizuru was trembling. Her knees failed to support her. She had to rely on the male's strong grip on her wrists so she could remain standing up.<p>

All she could really do was to stare into his eyes. "W-Who are you?" She knew it was a lame question at a time like this, and she remembered asking the same question before, but no answer came from the man last time. She was sure she'd be brushed off once more – to her utter shock, the male rested his head on her shoulder, his lips dangerously ghosted near her neck.

His cold breaths on her skin made her trembling stronger. She couldn't think properly as the stranger continued to remain silent.

Everything turned into a twisted sort of calm which was shattered when the male made a violent movement – he quickly put her hands in one of his hands and pinned them above her head and raised her chin so she could lock eyes with him with his free hand. She would have screamed. Really, she would have, if not for the sudden lips claiming her own. Her eyes widened even more, if that was humanely possible. She was fully aware of how she looked like now.

Pathetic.

However, she couldn't bring herself to care when she felt like she was being burned by the flames inside red orbs that refused to break their gaze with her own discerned, honey-colored ones. At that moment, she forgot to breath, not like she could, seeing as the male had absolutely zero intention of breaking the searing kiss.

Who knew a kiss could leave you breathless despite not having to involve their tongues?

For what seemed like an eternity, the male finally withdrew himself. A smirk was on his face. His features held such unreadable emotions, it scared Shizuru. It was the first time in her life she's encountered someone as mentally deranged as this man. The look he gave her supported her theory that whoever this was – was completely mental.

"Orihara Izaya. My name is Orihara Izaya. Remember the name, Shizu-chan."

Finally.

She finally knew his name. Izaya. If you asked her, it's weird you'd actually care to know the name of someone who has you pinned to a wall while you're close to naked and forcibly kissed you, nonetheless, she could not bring herself to harbor hate for this Izaya person. Quite the contrary, she felt something inside of her heart flutter. The moment she heard his name come out from his mouth with that damned voice of his.

You could say she was enthralled, which she had said before, was strange in a situation such as this.

They remained like that for a good few minutes. She looked into his eyes and he looked right through her very soul. His presence intimidated her, but unlike her earlier helplessness, once again, she could feel something spark inside of her once her brain had completely registered her situation and the name the male gave her.

Everything just clicked, and then she surprised the both of them by her reaction. "Perverted flea, you better keep your hands to yourself." That being said, her monstrous strength surfaced again. She broke away from Izaya's vice grip by delivering a strong kick to his stomach which sent the latter flying to the other side of the van.

* * *

><p>Despite the pain on the lower part of his body, he still could not get rid of the feeling of amusement he got from the girl. He could tell she was struggling and was confused. Her memories, and strength were surfacing. What interested him wasn't the vulnerability she showed him, but the sparks of anger and hatred the usual Shizu-chan carried within her. It was the destructive power and the impulsiveness that interested him to no end.<p>

You could say he somehow missed it. No… not somehow, he really did miss it.

"Get out." Beautiful, her angry voice – it was music to his ears. Yet, her face contradicted her tone. Her face was contorted into misperception, it's as if she didn't know what she was doing or how she could have accomplished such a feat – which was total bullocks since she had always done indescribable things before, her voice, on the other hand, held hate, the intimate hate Shizuka Heiwajima, the strongest woman of Ikebukuro, harbored only for him.

Ironic, if you asked him. She loved him and hated him at the same time.

* * *

><p>"<em>Nee, Shizu-chan, do you love me?" he asked the woman who was focused on eating her lunch. His inquiry clearly shocked her seeing as how she choked on her food. "W-What the hell are you babbling about, flea?" came her rejoinder, accompanied by a heavy red color that invaded her face. <em>

_She could be cute sometimes. Especially when there was only the two of them. Contrary to common belief that they fought every time they saw and that they can't stand each other's presences, things were calm between them as long as Shinra or Dota-chin was there. Or when he wasn't smirking, or trolling other people. Now, it was a combination of reason one and two._

_The four of them went up to the school's roof top not long ago for lunch, but Shinra and Dota-chin didn't bring food with them so they left to buy something at the canteen, while Shizuka stayed behind because she always brought her own lunch and Izaya because he wasn't hungry and found no need to stand up from where he sat – diagonally across the now stuttering female. It was fun to watch her struggle like that. _

_He snickered at that. Maybe that's why she disliked him instinctively. With that animal-like instinct of hers, she felt that he lived to annoy her._

"_W-What the hell, louse? T-There's no way I'd l-l-l-l-love you!" _

_Her face was as red as can be, it kind of made Izaya a bit guilty of embarrassing her, he just couldn't find it in himself to be __**that **__kind, he __**was **_**Orihara Izaya**_. He feigned an overdramatically hurt expression and started to act out sadness over her rejection. "Ah! Shizu-chan! You do not know how much you pain me with your blatant rejection!" he put a hand over his chest just to make his act a bit more believable._

_She huffed a bit, red tint of a blush still on her face, but the pride that the young informant so wanted to crush was now present on her face. "Shut it, flea."_

"_Bet you can't say one sentence to me without the addition of your usual insults of me being a flea or a louse."_

"_Lousy scum."_

"_Still, my dear, 'louse' is present for it is the root word of 'lousy'."_

_Truth be told, he was surprised the latter hadn't started to screeching his name and coming at him with whatever weapon she can pick up. He was quite a bit amazed when all she did was pop in an egg roll in her mouth and chewed angrily. After a few moments of silence, she answered him, seemingly having calmed down. _

"_Love is a weak link. Those bound by love are susceptible to all kinds of unwanted mishaps just because they feel so strongly for their partner. Love makes you feeble and takes away your ability to think sensibly. That's why..." she paused, closing her bento and putting them away in her bag. "Hate is stronger than love, because it is a negative emotion, unwanted mishaps strengthen it, it makes you sturdier, and even though it makes you think unreasonably, it does not mislead you from your goal of hating the person. Eventually, when you've reached the peak of your hate, you won't be able to look away from the other, and thus forges a much stronger bond than love."_

_Well that dumbfounded him; to say he was surprised would be an understatement. He just stared at her walk away from him; bag slouched over her shoulder, a defiant look on her face and a proud smirk for outsmarting him on her face. Before she exited the door, she faced him, a small blush on her face and spoke out words that sent his mind to the gutters. _

"_I hate you, Orihara Izaya." Was all she said before living him wide-eyed and unable to move._

_He remained like a shocked little goose caught by headlights until Kadota and Shinra snapped him out of his dazed state, bombarding him with questions like "What did you do this time?" or "What happened? Ah, never mind. 100% it must have been your fault for pissing Shizuka off."_

_He just laughed at them and shook his head before snatching Kadota's yakisoba bread and running after his Shizu-chan. "Thanks Dota-chin! And I didn't do anything! I was just shocked. Shizu-chan said she loved me." _

_That left the other two in the state he was in before they entered, but Izaya didn't care, he just ran after the girl who shook up his world._

_It was then he seriously considered her of being an alien from outer space – because no human can catch him off guard like she can._

* * *

><p>"Nee… Shizu-chan… Do you really… not remember me?" he asked tentatively once he felt the pain of being thrown harshly and colliding with metal. His mind calmed down a bit from its 'Shizu-rush' as what he decided to call the phenomena in where he can't get enough of Shizu-chan.<p>

There was no response; only breathing and the sound of heart beats were heard.

She didn't know how to reply to his question. Yes, she remembered him from last night, this was their second meeting. She remembered clearly. She bit back that retort because she felt as if his question was deeper than what it seemed to be. There was something with the way he asked her, and the way he looked at her that told her it wasn't as shallow as what she initially thought of it.

If you take the past occurrences and present situations into consideration, then undoubtedly, the question had a much deeper root.

However, she couldn't think of a proper answer for his inquiry since the worried voices of her manager and brother were shouting from outside the van.

* * *

><p>The loud crash they heard from Shizuru's location startled both Chikage and Kasuka, the actor dropped his script and ran towards to where his sister was, Chikage right behind him. Kasuka felt a gripping unease down the pit of his very soul. Why was he having such an ominous feeling? He was worried about his sister. Sure he always worried for her, ever since they were children, but the worry and unease he felt now wasn't normal. It was far much more intense than what he's ever felt before – heck, it was worse than the anxiety he felt when she disappeared last night.<p>

Somehow, though, they felt oddly similar, only this time, it was stronger.

He started to bang his hand on the door madly, his indifference disappeared as his heart raced, the worry of his sibling getting the better of him.

"Nee-san!"

"Shizuru!"

He and their manager yelled at the same time, obviously they both had a feeling of mutual apprehension towards the ghastly sound that came from the changing van.

Kasuka seriously considered breaking down the door to get to his sister, but was brought back to rationality when the door opened suddenly, and a dark silhouette immediately jumped out of the van and disappeared into the buildings of Shinjuku. Not that he could find himself to bring more attention towards the mysterious figure. Chikage looked at him, his eyes told the actor to go ahead of him and check on Shizuka. This reassured the younger Heiwajima to leave the case of the identity of the dark figure to their manager. With that, their manager ran after whoever the intruder was. He nodded curtly before he ran to where his dumbfounded sister who was poorly covered by the clothes she wore earlier sat lifelessly, save the tremors of her body.

"Nee-san?"

No reply…

"Nee-san?"

Still no reply…

He slowly approached her when he came near as to not frighten her more. Once he reached her, he wrapped his arms protectively around his sibling. He felt her shake inside his embrace which only served him to worry more and hug her tighter. "Nee-san? What happened?"

"Yuuhei…" she called out in a frightened voice. It made Kasuka's heart tremble. The fear and anxiety in her voice – emotions so unbefitting for her beautiful face made him want to cry. Yet, he did not speak, he let his distraught sister continue what she was about to say.

_"Who is Orihara Izaya?"_

Amidst all the chaos that ensued, not even Orihara Izaya noticed the pair of eyes focused solely on him, a smile formed on the face of the owner of the irises.

"I found him."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

**ASDFGHJKL! I haven't updated in such a long time, I feel very guilty. Wa. It's because of one thing: I got addicted to chatting. Pathetic excuse, but that's the case. I'm going to focus on writing for now. I really want to finish this before school starts, mostly because I won't be able to write much because of my work load, so this is the fifth chapter. Wala~ I hope you guys liked it; I'm seriously having a writer's block.**

**About Shizuru's two outbursts of strength, it seems our ex-bartender is finally surfacing under the calm and cute actress, huh. And the creeper in the end, read on to find out who he is.**

**As usual, I would like to thank my reviewers and subs.**

**So this chapter is dedicated to the subs and the reviewers namely:**

**nellababy18**

**Mika . siam . 71192**

**Michikochan808 (Bakyura)**

**The Midnight Warrior**

**Sabathiel**

**InsomniaticFrenchToast**

**That-Crazy-Redhead-Chick**

**I'll try my best to tell myself to finish this.**


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